What You Need To Know Before Traveling In Egypt
(or you can just skip to the start of the itinerary!)
Is It Safe To Travel In Egypt?
I can really only give personal experience, but we always felt safe in Egypt. Of course, there were the pesky hawkers and salesmen trying to sell anything and everything, but they were always harmless. In general we found the people friendly and welcoming, and had no concerns at all about our safety.
If you’re interested in reading about it further, you’ll want to read this post about safety in Egypt. It pretty much sums up my feelings exactly! It talks about bringing kids, and I figure if it’s safe to take kids to Egypt, it’s safe for anyone to travel to Egypt!
Money In Egypt
Egypt uses the Egyptian Pound, abbreviated LE (left over from French colonization), which is divided into 100 piasters. There are coins and bank notes, with the bank notes being FAR more common. Coins are found in 25p, 50p and 1LE, all of which are also available in bank notes. Bank notes are further available in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200LE denominations. I’ve never had any issues with changing larger notes as vendors were always able to find change (with the exception of old USD). If you find yourself at a local WU or Bank to exchange currency from USD to Egyptian pounds, please notice as they are counting it back to you that you do NOT want any old USD, local vendors will not accept them! I had this issue with paying at a hotel once.
Credit and Debit cards
Both are widely accepted, but i suggest to prepay before traveling as much as you can with higher end accommodations like hotels. I didn’t have any issues with major stores and restaurants, but cash is better. During the entire 30 days in Egypt, I only used my debit card to get fund from ATM’s maybe three times and for Internet. Cash is definitely king or queen.
*expert tip – many accommodation prices are listed in USD and the exchange rate is slightly better if you pay with the currency in which the rate is posted. Make sure you have either USD or Euros on hand, ideally enough to cover all of your anticipated accommodation costs.
ATM’s
ATM’s are widely available, especially in Cairo, Aswan and Luxor. Cirrus and Plus were the most commonly accepted cards, which should work for everyone from the Western Hemisphere. Many of the bank machines have a 4-digit pin limit (although this is slowly changing). If you have a 5- or 6- digit pin you may want to change it to a 4-digit pin before leaving home so you’re not limited to the ATM’s you can use.
Many of the ATMs have a per-transaction limit of 1000LE or 2000LE. This can get annoying, and costly, especially if your bank is charging a $5 fee per transaction (darn Plus fees!). Try to find the ATM with the highest limit, and always take out the max if possible.
Cell Phone/SIM Cards/WiFi In Egypt
SIM cards are cheap and easy to find in Egypt. It’s cheapest to buy them in town, but it’s easiest to just pick one up at the airport. I used Vodafone, and the coverage was great everywhere listed in this itinerary! I paid 134 LE ($22 CAD) for a SIM card and 6GB of data. All our accommodations had wifi, so the 6GB of data was more than enough.
Drinking Water In Egypt
The tap water in Egypt isn’t safe to drink, so you’ll need to ensure you’re always drinking filtered or bottled water. Bottled water is readily available, and many of our accommodations had either bottled water or filtered water that was easily accessible. I brought along my Brita Water Filter.
Travel Insurance
I tend to dislike insurance in general, however I never go anywhere without proper travel insurance. The risk is just too great and I’ve heard too many horror stories of people injured abroad without travel insurance. During my trips to Egypt, I used Allianz, the pricing was reasonable (for Americans). I’ve heard great reports from other travelers, too.